Moving on
by Elandil
Summary: After the BoL Chiron worries that the leaders of the camp may be insufficient in the coming war. However, he has a solution: Join with 4 demigods as they struggle through a year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry along with the golden trio. However, none of them expected the surprise that was waiting for them in the chamber of secrets...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know, I know, another story in a short space of time, but the thing is, I really need to stop reading new fandoms. I just read a few stories of a certain type, and then I want to write them! Anyway, this story (Hopefully series) is dedicated to my cousin and best friend, Ingradera who has supported me over the years and was the very first person that I ever told any of my stories to. It is because of her that I now have the confidence to publish. I love you May!**

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As his gaze travelled across the faces of the 4 demigods gathered before him, Chiron could not help but internally sigh. None of them looked best pleased to have been pulled from their activities so soon after the last skirmish, and some of them, he knew, had been in the midst of a rather important meeting about setting up a patrol around the borders of camp. Even though they had had reassurance that the labyrinth had been destroyed, it was just like the children of Athena to be cautious anyway. After only a few more moments of this stony silence (quite an accomplishment seeing as though 4 of the 5 people gathered were ADHD) the old centaur wearily pulled himself to his feet, wincing slightly as he placed weight on his recently healed back leg.

"Now, no doubt you are all wondering about the cause for me to summon you all here, especially you Ms Grace, don't glare at me child, but I assure you that, even though it may not seem this way at the moment, it is extremely just and reasonable."

AS these words, the boy with the sea green eyes stepped forwards, looking slightly agitated as well as a little jumpy. His usually tanned skin was now quite pale, due to a long stretch of time in the maze below ground, but he still looked as healthy as ever. Even the recent battle had yet to take its toll upon him.

"Go on then Chiron, what is it? I was in the middle of trying to pull Polux out of hysteria!"

At this, the teacher sighed again. Yes there had been too many losses in the last fight, and only more could follow seeing as they were sure to face a war in the near future, but that was exactly why this plan was so essential for them all.

"Yes Percy, and I apologise for that, but this is a mission that you 4 must undertake to prevent situations like this from occurring again in the future. In fact, as we are all aware, there is war brewing that we cannot avoid, and, as such, I have decided, with great pains, to send all of you away for more training, in order to reduce the number of casualties."

For once, the demigods fell into a silence that was not forced, rather, they were all too shocked to respond. More training? Wasn't that the very purpose of the camp? To train them to survive? Eventually, it was Annabeth, ever the practical one, who snapped out of the daze first and turned to address her father-figure.

"Where are you sending us Chiron? What do we need to do?"

Ah yes, this is what the centaur had been dreading. For many years, Hecate had managed to remain secretive about her little world, but, recently, the gods had found out which was part of the reason for this. Bracing himself for an onslaught of questions, Chiron took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Over the years, the Lady Hecate has developed her own little world of mortals that posses her blessing, that is to say, they can all use magic. These mortals, or wizards as they prefer to be classed as, have developed their own schooling system, the most prominent of them being the boarding school of Hogwarts in Scotland. This miss Chase, is where I am to be sending you so that you may all learn new ways of battle and defence in time for the next attack."

As soon as he had finished speaking, he stepped back slightly as the outcome he had feared arose. As one, the teenagers all began shouting.

"Wizards? They're supposed to be myths… the only magical people I have ever read of are children of Hecate herself!"

"Lady Artemis is never going to allow me to take a whole year out of the hunt to attend a _school! _Especially not one that is co-ed!"

"Ugh, we have so much work piling up in the underworld, if I take a full year out, dad will kill me!"

"We just finished one fight Chiron, what are we going to do if the camp is attacked again and we are all over in Scotland? Everyone here expects us to help them, how are we supposed to do that from Europe?"

And so forth the argument went until Chiron, growing bored of the chaos, slammed his front hoof upon the panelled floor and drew them all to attention, unfortunately, not being a member of the camp any more, the daughter of Zeus was a little beyond his control.

"That. Is. Mahogany!" The girl screeched, making all of the others laugh at her reference, though it only confused the centaur, still, at least they were no longer shouting and they would be more amenable to his plan if they were in a good mood, sighing slightly at the childish antics, he pushed on never the less.

"In answer to your concerns, the gods themselves have agreed with this plan so you both may be a part of it without minding what your superiors think. The wizards value secrecy almost as much as we do so there is no record of them in any books you may find around here, though I bet you can name the location of the American school Annabeth, and Percy, my boy, by going to this school you _are _helping the campers as you will be learning new ways to keep them safe. By gong along with this mission you may very well save many lives."

During his speech, the demigods had been looking around like naughty children, with the occasional whispered words such as 'Salem' by the daughter of Athena, though by the end, they had all recovered their self control and the room fell silent again. This time, it was the son of Hades who broke the deadlock.

"You said there was a school in America… why do we have to go to the one in Britain?"

Chiron nodded his head at this, he had expected this to arise and he had well thought out the basis of his argument, to the extent even, that it flowed smoothly off of his tongue.

"Because Salem is too close to Olympus, if we send such powerful demigods to that school, you will be attacked by monsters on a daily basis. However, my friend, Albus, has assured me that you will be quite safe in the confines of the school, especially as monsters tend to be more dispersed the further from the gods you travel."

"But Chiron, we don't have any magic?"

With his age old eyes, the centaur turned to the young girl with the blond curls and smiled with pride. He would worry about all of the heroes under his charge, sending them so far away was not good for his nerves, even after all of these long millennia, but knowing that they had such a down to earth child amongst them, coupled with the fighting prowess of the other 3 gave him hope that they would do fine in the next few moths.

"Ah, yes, my dear, that would be a problem but for the fact that the lady Hecate has promised to supply each of you with her blessing. Seeing as though a child of each of the big three is present, they did not put up too much of a fight over this one particular detail."

Around now, all of the teenagers were beginning to nod their heads, the loyalty instilled in each of them by the loss of someone close binding them to the quest in a way stronger than any other plea could have found possible. Seeing their passive faces, the son of Kronos smiled again. Yes it was very likely that this plan of his would be a success, and a great asset to them all.

"Alright, now that that is done, if Annabeth wouldn't mind staying behind so that I may discuss the details with her, I suppose you all don't mind if I make her team leader seeing as though she has a better memory and a smaller tendency to get into trouble than the rest of you, you should all go and prepare anything you think necessary to take with you on this quest. You will all be leaving tomorrow so I hope you can all manage to get a good night's sleep."

With this, all of the assembled teens meandered away towards their cabins, mumbling together about the items they would need, leaving only the daughter of Athena behind, seated at the ping pong table and looking more than a little concerned. When they were finally alone, he began to talk again.

"Now, Annabeth, before we get on to anything else, there is something that I need to tell you and you have to promise me that you will not mention it to the others until it is completely necessary…"

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**So, there was the first chapter, I hope you like it. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think, just no flames please. I promise that I will continue on with my other stories, I just felt like adding this to the pile as well Anyway, I got a question for you, and any one that is reading my 'Truth Behind the Lies' story will know how this goes. You get It right, you get a cookie. If you are first to get it right, you get the next chapter dedicated to you, so don't be afraid and go for it!**

**Who was Harry's 3****rd**** DADA teacher?"**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, this story had a much better response than I was expecting. Have I ever told you guys how much you make me smile? Anyway, this chapter is for Wolfman613 with cookies here for:**

**Ingradera **

**Velocity Drew Warren**

**Kat callen (sorry, that quote was from the hunger games film… sorry that you didn't get it)**

**Guest**

**EnigmaticPerson (hey, that's mean! Chiron is a person too you know! :P)**

**Thank you guys so much and feel free to go to the poll on my profile to cast your vote for the story I should update most often ;) Now, on with the story…**

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Percy's PoV:

I sighed as I trudged back to the Poseidon cabin, leaving my two cousins behind and dodging a stray volley ball that flew past my ear. I'm pretty sure a certain set of Hermes brothers were behind that, but no matter, I can always get them back for that later, from what I have heard, they aren't very good with dogs and I just happen to have inherited one of the biggest in the world…

Anyway, by the time I got to dad's cabin door, I was completely absorbed in my thoughts, after all, how many times can you say that you just found out about a completely new world that you always believed to be a myth? Well, I guess as a demigod it isn't the same as it would have been for others but it was still a bit of a shock. After the minotaur, hell hounds, the furies and a whole load of others, you kind of think that nothing can stun you anymore.

I was so lost inside of my own mind that I didn't even notice the shimmering, multi-coloured light that was filling the room as I collapsed onto the bed, but the person in the Iris message was not going to be ignored so easily. All it took was for him to cough for me to spin round drawing rip tide in one move, though, when I worked out who it was, my face went bright red and I hid the pen away quickly.

"Perseus."

"Hello father."

From the looks of his surroundings, dad seemed to be in some part of his underwater palace as the whole image seemed a little distorted. I couldn't help but wonder how exactly you would create a rainbow under water… did he distort the ripples and use glowing coral to cast light through it, or did he just dry the room out before creating the rainbow? Perhaps…

"PERSEUS!"

Although he shouted, I could tell that dad wasn't really upset with me, I could see the grin he was trying to keep off of his face after all, but I couldn't help grinning sheepishly up at him like he had caught me doing something wrong. It felt really great to have a dad again after spending so many years with that gods awful excuse for a human being. You know, even now I am not convinced that he was completely human, despite what Nico told me about where his soul ended up in the end…

"PERCY!"

My head snapped round at the sound again and I noticed that my dad had asked me something. Not wanting to upset probably the only god that was still on my side I quickly pulled on an apologetic face before explaining my distraction.

"Gah, sorry dad, ADHD is acting up again."

The tanned skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled in understanding, that's one of the things I loved most about my dad, he wasn't one of those gods who was easily insulted and blasted before thinking.

"That's alright my boy… now, as I said before, has Chiron spoken to you bout the new little… issue?"

I nodded at this, hoping like mad that he was on about the wizard school thing not another, more dangerous 'issue' about how the world was going to end some time in the next year.

"Good, now, as you are going to a wizarding school, you will all need wands and it has fallen to us to supply them to you."

Ah, that made perfect se… wait, did he just say…

"Did you just say wand?"

His smile broadened at this as he seemed to pick up on my badly hidden excitement.

"Yes son, and now… well, I did have it around here somewhere… wait for a second. Now where did I put that…?"

I stood there awkwardly while he mumbled under his breath checking all of the pockets in his shorts and jacket. It was getting quite hard to stop myself from laughing at his antics, but then, somewhere off screen, a door slammed open and I heard a deafening shout of "DADDY" Before the sea god was rugby tackled to the floor. That was it, I couldn't stop laughing at this bizarre image.

"Hey Tyson, how's it going?"

The baby Cyclops looked up from where he had practically flattened our father to grin toothily at me with a smile that was, for once, completely free of peanut butter.

"Brother! I made you a stick! Daddy asked for it, now we both have stick weapons!"

He was laughing at this when he pulled out a sparkling silver shaft that was about a foot long and glittering in the diffused light of the water. I couldn't help feeling more than a little disappointed at the very anticlimactic weapon, but, by then, dad was back on his feet, looking a little bit ruffled but otherwise unharmed.

"Ah yes, thank you Tyson, I was just looking for that actually, would you mind passing that to Percy for me? Don't worry about the distance, this is a special delivery Iris message, enhanced my Hermes specifically for this."

Rather tentatively at first, Tyson began to push his hand holding the stick towards the screen of the message, obviously worried that any touch would destroy the connection but, to our surprise, when his fist was only a hair's breadth from the surface of the image, the mist seemed to mould itself around his skin but, curiously enough, only the wand went through. Obviously, this was something that wasn't lost on my half-brother as his previously sunny expression turned to a pout in less than a second though his next words set me off laughing again.

"Aww, no hug then?"

"Never mind big guy, maybe next time."

I tried not to let my relief seep into my words, but it was rather hard seeing as though receiving a hug from a Cyclops, even a baby one, was like being hit by a truck… not pleasant and extremely bad for your health if attempted too often. However, because I knew I wasn't the best of liars, I quickly bent down to pick up the thin silver twig that had rolled up to my feet.

"What's this then dad? I mean, what is it made of?"

I wasn't faking my curiosity now, the wand looked as though it was made of some sort of metal, but it was almost like marble underneath my fingers, cold and smooth. Even as I watched, there seemed to be a warmth beginning to seep from the surface into my finger tips as the wand seemed to be… humming?

"Ah yes, that would require the stats of the wand right? Umm, if I recall, this was made from deep sea coral with a mermaid hair core… though Triton was _not _very happy when we asked him for that…"

All of this would have been very interesting, and I probably would have liked to have questioned him more on that but it was getting hard to ignore the sensations coming from the magical item, especially since the slight warmth was developing more into a burning pain that was consuming my arm and quickly spreading to the rest of my body. Even when I dropped the offending piece of coral, the burning just continued to spread.

"Dad… what. Is. With. This. Thing?"

I managed to gasp out between gritted teeth as my vision began to turn fuzzy around the edges. I was, however, still with it enough to realise that a concerned look shot across my father's face before it was replaced by a sudden understanding.

"Oh, that would be Hecate's blessing, necessary for the quest but a little unpleasant I fear. It as to change the make up of your blood a little bit, you see, wizards are normally born with the magic in their blood and you're, well, you're not. It isn't lethal… I think."

"Wait, you _think?" _

But that was all I could get out before the burning in my system peaked and I guess I fainted because everything went black. The last think I saw was my younger brother on the verge of tears as he watched my agonised face.

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**A/N: Yeah, none lethal… usually. Great reassurance right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and here is the question for the next.**

**What was Ginny's Pigmypuff called?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm baaaaack! Anyway, here is the new chapter that is dedicated to TimeLadyof TARDIS who appears to be stalking my work to win the contests **** (love ya really) and here I have cookies for:**

**Guest (er…. You may want to make up a name next time so I can call you by it)**

**Velocity Drew Warren**

**Wolfman 613**

**Enigmatic Person**

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Thalia's PoV:

When I finally managed to pull myself up from the floor of the Artemis cabin, I noticed two things. One, I felt stronger, more powerful. And Two, all of the other Hunters had somehow managed to escape the cabin while I was writhing in pain. Great support girls, just perfect! Sighing slightly I flopped down onto the bed stretching my back out on the soft down comforter. I was about to relax there for a while, allowing my aching muscles to sort themselves out without aggravation, but something cold and hard pressed into my back, just between my shoulder blades, and I flipped off of the bunk in fury, expecting an attack, however, what I discovered was a thin, golden stick.

For a few seconds, I did nothing but stare wearily at the recent cause of my agony my memories of the recent past beginning to resurface as I glared at the offending item. No sooner had I touched the thin shaft of wood that had been offered by my lady than the stabbing pain had started to tear apart every part of my body. Still feeling slightly cautious, I crept forwards and poked the stick… Nothing. Taking a deep breath I quickly lent forwards and snatched the wand off of the bed tensing in case of a sudden onslaught of pain. 10 seconds

20 seconds

A full minute and nothing had happened so I relaxed slightly and fell back into my bed examining every inch of my new weapon. Approximately12 and a half inches long, really flexible and made of a honey gold wood that I knew all too well. Pine. I had to suppress a snort at that. Artemis had said that it was our father who decided on the wood for the wand, I bet he was having a right laugh about it now up in Olympus, but se had been the one to select the core, and for this, she had chosen the fang of her favourite hunting wolf Skull. This made me feel a little better about the entire thing, at least I still had a small link with my mistress and sisters.

I don't know how long I lay there staring absentmindedly at the stick in my hand, but when I was pulled out of my thoughts by a soft nock on the cabin door, the light had already faded from half of the room, leaving me completely in the shadows. Only briefly pausing to wonder at the time lapse, I flipped off of my bunk (something that I was _incredibly _proud of) and wretched on the door handle, pulling it open in a sharp snap to reveal my best friend in the whole world.

"Annie, what are you doing here?"

Her grin turned to a glare for half a second at my use of her not too preferred nickname but that didn't last long as she was back to her normal, slightly ADHD self. I took me a few seconds to process the manic smirk on her face before I was tackled into a crushing bear hug that put my death grips to shame. Stumbling slightly under the added weight I managed to drag us into the centre of the room where we would be less likely to injure ourselves by collapsing into anything before I addressed the matter at hand is such a dignified and eloquent way.

"Anna… Beth… Can't… Breath!"

Smiling slightly, she finally gave my lungs a chance to do their job for the first time in a long while and amused herself by playing with one of the curtains in the window as I gasped I huge gulps of air. Once the room had stopped spinning… as much, I turned back to my intelligent friend who was scaring me by remaining unusually quiet for the first time in her life.

"So…?"

I let my voice trail off at the end, leaving the question hanging in the air as she spun back round to face me, a broad smile gracing her face. However, the longer I examined her face, the more the smile seemed fake, like she was hiding something, but I had known the girl since she was 7 ( give or take the 5 years I had spent stuck in that blasted tree) so it was rather hard for her to hold back secrets from me.

"Hey Thals."

"Don't 'Hey Thals' me, tell me what you are hiding, now!"

"I'm not hiding anyth-"

"Oh don't talk wet, I know when you are worried about something, which is the exact reason why you came to me instead of my kelp brained cousin! Come on Anna, I haven't been gone that long!"

She stared at me for a few seconds, as though she was weighing up the pros and cons of confiding in me and I tried to put on my most trustworthy face and, although I am pretty sure that it came out more like a grimace than anything else, it seemed to work as she soon sighed and slumped back down onto my bed. Wow, that poor piece of furniture really wasn't having a good day.

"Well, you see…"

**(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) Om nom nom ****COOKIE LINE BREAK**** Om nom nom (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) **

Nico's PoV:

I couldn't help but glare sullenly at the dead piece of wood that now lay at the edge of my bed, somehow managing to remain in place even as I was thrashing around in a blind panic. When I went back to the underworld, Hecate was going to pay for that, I mean, I know why the change was necessary for the mission, but why the Hades was it necessary for it to hurt so much? It felt similar to the time Persephone had grounded me in the field of punishment for a while, but still, back on task…

I was pulled from my thoughts quite rudely when Percy barged into my cabin and flopped onto the bunk beside me as though he owned the place. Sighing, I rolled over and stowed my white stick in the draw of the table beside me.

"What do you want Perce? Annabeth kicked you out again?"

I couldn't hep grinning slightly at the hurt look that flashed across his face at my words, but the lost puppy look to his face was soon replaced by his usual lopsided grin.

"Nah, I just felt like spending some time with someone who wouldn't blab on at me about the benefits to your health of Parsley over Parsnips…"

He trailed off with a dramatic shudder that I could really understand. Once Grover got on to one of his vegetable debates with his girlfriend, it was better to leave the room than remain, and when Demeter joined in, you just needed to run for your life. I picked up on the fact that Percy had only mentioned food and not buildings as I smirked at him once again, really enjoying my chance to make fun of him after all the times he had done the same for me.

"So Annabeth really did shrug you off right? I knew it, she finally got over her unexplained infatuation with a lower species! I better go get my money from Drew!"

He glared at me before sticking his tongue out like a little kid and rolling over. Deciding that it was better to change the subject than possibly push one of the most powerful demigods in history over the edge, I attempted for a subtle subject change.

"Soooo, you got your wand yet?"

Even though I could no longer see his face, it was pretty hard to miss the flinch that ran through his body at the mention of the annoyingly deceptive new weapons, but, for once, I didn't feel the need to attack his display of weakness as I too was shuddering at the memory. Seeing that he was not about to answer any time soon, I pressed on again.

"Yeah, that wasn't pleasant, but, when you get over it, the wands are pretty cool. Mines made from one of the trees in Persephone's garden, so it is pure white, with the heart string of a hell hound to give it its power, I wonder how that will effect the spells I can cast…?"

Okay, I realised that I was rambling now, something that I had never actually done before in my life, but I just felt the need to negate the silence that had filled the Hermes cabin for what was probably the first time in living (and un-dead) memory. After a while, I got bored with my own voice and looked over to where Percy was, rather deeply asleep… doesn't that just figure? I went over to shake him awake, but before I actually did, I felt an evil grin spread across my face as I thought of a better idea. A _much _better idea.

**(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) Om nom nom ****COOKIE LINE BREAK**** Om nom nom (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) **

(Approximately 14 hours, hundreds of death glares, 50 screaming matches and… other things later.)

One by one, 4 weary teenagers passed through the loading tunnel and found their isle seats in the business class of the transatlantic plane before collapsing down in two awkward pairs. In the front of the pack, was a girl with glowing blond curls and a stark white boy with sea green eyes that was clinging to her hand as desperately as though it was his life line. Behind them, the other two seemed to fare little better, but the black eyed boy also held a slightly shocked expression as the pretty goth girl beside him clung to his arm. Not that he seemed to mind, but still…

For some reason, as the plain flew towards its destination, it seemed to continuously encounter turbulence no matter how hard the pilot attempted to avoid the strange patches of wind. With every shudder and groan that the queer metal bird gave, the group from before seemed slightly more on edge until they all appeared to be wound so tight that the slightest poke would send them leaping out of their skin. In the end, the plane touched down in London without any difficulty and the Americans stumbled out into the light of a glorious new day. You know, one could almost assume that the gods were smiling down at this little group, but that couldn't possibly be… Right?

A/N: Well, that's it for the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. The question for this is:

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**Other than multiplying to confuse the robbers, what else did the gold in the Lestrange back vault do to deter thieves?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, I'm back again with a new chapter for you. This one is dedicated to ****Velocity Drew Warren ****With cookies here for:**

**Reading Nerd**

**Kat Callen**

**Enigmatic Person**

**Wolfman613**

**Booknerd**

**A guest**

**Now, on with the story…**

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Annabeth's PoV:

I sighed and glanced around the crowded terminal, eyes flickering over each person in search of a familiar face while, behind me, the three cousins refused to shut up… or go anywhere with their conversation.

"Just go contact Chiron."

"But Anna said to wait here!"

"We can't stay here all night!"

"But we obviously have to stay here for a reason!"

Once again I felt the urge to sigh but I was able to stop myself just in time. This was the exact same thing they had been saying since we collected our bags from the luggage carousel 20 minutes prior to where we were now and, to be honest, it wasn't any less annoying now than it was before. Although I loved all of them dearly, I couldn't help but wish they would shut up for one moment in time. It was bad enough that I had to abandon the camp after the battle, but why did I have to have babysitting duty in a _foreign country _on top of that? Wasn't my life bad enough having to keep Percy in line on all of those life threatening quests?

I am ashamed to say that my internal rant may have continued for quite some time after this if it had not been for the sudden appearance of a young woman over by the window, carrying a cardboard sign with our names written on it. It was strange though, I could have sworn that she was not in that place a second ago when I had covered it in an earlier sweep yet I hadn't seen her walk in either. Had it not been for Chiron's advice that I should just accept strange things about our chaperone, I would have instantly thought that something wasn't right and walked off quickly in the opposite direction, Instead, I just turned round to snap at the bickering twosome, grinning slightly at the melodramatic face Nico flashed at me when he caught my eyes.

"If the married couple is finished…"

At this, they fell silent, blushing furiously.

"Our ride is here!"

Sometimes, it amazes me just how quickly those two can change their moods. One minute they were stood their moodily, glaring at me and each other, and the next, they were bouncing up and down like hyperactive puppies who had just been shown a bone. Nico, on the other hand, merely cast a bored look through the crowd until his eyes landed on the woman with the board and his eyes widened. I would have questioned his reaction had one of the little children not clamped on tom my arm and started dragging me towards our guide.

On closer inspection, the woman seemed to be in her early 20's but it was a bit hard to tell as she had one of those ageless faces. Up close, I could make out the strange purple sheen that came from her raven hair and a slight lilac ring separating her marigold irises from her pupils. Altogether, the woman looked beautiful, but some part of me was saying that she was far more than she appeared.

When she saw us heading her way, the woman motioned slightly with her index finger towards the door and soon we were following her into an abandoned ally way next to Heathrow airport where she stopped, sign lowered and her back to us. The alarm bells were ringing loud and clear in my head by this point, and my hand started drifting towards my right boot where I had stored my dagger, but, all of a sudden, I sensed movement behind me. When I looked round, it was just in time to see Nico sink to the ground and… bow? Still, no matter how confused I was that the prideful Nico DiAngelo had bowed to someone, it was nothing like the shock I felt when the woman turned and grinned down at him, the movement twisting her features into something sly and dangerous, maybe even holy… oh styyyx.

"Lady Hecate, we did not know that you were the one coming to collect us."

The others seemed to finally twig on to the fact that we were with someone immensely powerful and that they should be showing some respect. To my complete and utter surprise, even seaweed brain fell into a low bow that I had even known he was capable of. Huh, seems like even he can have manners when he wants to.

Still smiling, the goddess of magic looked over all of us as we knelt on the cold pavement before letting out a laugh like a skylark.

"Ah, there is no need for you to bow to me godlings, you especially little cousin as I work for your father, but amongst the mortals and my beloved witches, it would be more prudent for you to refer to me as Professor Hex, as that will be my disguise from her on out."

We all just stared at her bemused at this line, having risen stiffly from the ground. I know that Chiron said he that a friend of his was going to come and be our (for lack of a better term) supervisor, but he didn't tell me that it was going to be a goddess, especially not this one in particular. Seeing our blank faces, Hecate laughed again, seeming to thoroughly be enjoying this situation, but then, she was the goddess of deception, and we were on her turf, so I guess this was like Christmas morning for her.

"Ah so I see that you have not been told of your cover yet?"

We all shook our heads numbly at this, still trying to process the entire situation.

"Well, you all are to be transfer students from a particular branch of the Salem Institute of the Arcane arts, and I am the teacher that came with you on this exchange programme, Professor Trivia Hex."

She smiled in a rather self satisfied way at that and it was clear to us that she was the one who thought of this cover story, still there were some things we were going to need to know if we were going to make the lie convincing when we were asked about it later.

"You say we are from a particular branch of the Institute, what is its name my la- I mean professor."

I hastily tagged that last bit on the end when I saw the glare coming my way; still, the question seemed to make her eyes sparkle with glee. I have to admit that it was rather strange seeing a servant of Hades acting so happy, but I was beginning to think that this was her natural personality. Gods help us if it was though, I have little doubt that having to survive a whole year of life with a much more powerful version of the Stolls was going to be sheer torture.

"Ah yes, details, details. You attend the special branch headed by Professor Brunner that develops the natural affinities of young children who seem to lean towards a certain art form and you are all arranged into different units. The four of you are the best in your areas which is why you were brought here on the exchange, and the programme you are in is called 'The Olympus protocol' which is specifically for the gifted and talented young wizards of the country."

She stopped for a moment allowing all of the new information to sink in before she continued in a voice that sounded rather giddy and excitable, it was a wonder she wasn't bouncing on the spot.

"You, Annabeth, are the top of the 'Intelligence' section which basically deals with stealth, strategy and, of course, wisdom."

I nodded at this, content with my cover and appreciating the slight twist of the word intelligence that would act as my cover. Most people would hear it and think of a section dealing with covert affairs, but we all knew that it was really named for the abilities I gained from my mother.

"Thalia, you and Percy are the joint leaders of the elementals section with Thalia being an Electromancer and Percy being a Hydromancer."

The grinned at each other in the break that followed this.

"And finally, little cousin, you are the most gifted of the Necromancer and other death magic students, and, I know that you cannot actually resurrect the dead as your father would never allow it, but bear with it and, if anyone asks, you have been forbidden from doing so by arcane laws set in motion in ancient times. Agreed?"

Nico gave a terse nod in acknowledgement and the goddess turned back to us as a group rather than just talking to individuals.

"And, you are all members of the same team as children of this branch are teamed up in cross sectional ways so that we can assess your progress. You are the Alpha team as you are the strongest, and all of you deal in intelligence."

"That may be impossible seeing as though Percy doesn't have any!"

I couldn't help but grin at the wounded look on seaweed brain's face when he heard Thalia's mumbled slight but the lest of us were laughing too hard to really care about is bruised feelings. After we all calmed down again, Hecate gave us all a wink before offering us her hands.

"I don't know about you kids, but I think it's time for us to go do some shopping in wizard society… what do you say?"

Without a word, we all latched on to her proffered finger and, with a loud crack, the world around us vanished.

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**A/N: There you have it, the new chapter. Did you like it? Hate it? Don't be afraid to tell me what you think. This chapters question is:**

**What was Aragog's disability?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: okay, I know this is a faster update than normal but I am feeling rather productive today for some unknown reason. This chapter is for ****Velocity Drew Warren**** again with further cookies here for:**

**BlackGryphon101**

**Enigmatic Person**

**Okay, now for the story Yay (sorry for anything strange but I'm in a hyper mood and actually dancing around on my bed as I write this lol)**

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Annabeth's Pov:

"Gah."

The second we had grabbed a hold of Hecate's offered hand, we vanished from where we had been standing, and reappeared in the middle of a bustling street which would have been cool, had we not also been put through an experience similar to being forced through a thin plastic pipe and having the air crushed out of you by a Tyson hug.

As soon as we landed, we all dropped her hand, wanting to get away in case she decided to try it again but, rather unfortunately, none of us were in the best state balance wise and Thalia went careening into the side of some guy behind her, sending them both crashing to the ground. Laughing a little, I went over to pull her to her feet and caught a glimpse at the unfortunate civilian that she had taken with her on her unexpected trip to concrete town, and what I saw made me look again.

I suppose he was rather good looking in some people's books, with platinum blond hair and sapphire eyes, but when you have grown up surrounded by the sons of Aphrodite and Apollo who look more like supermodels than anything else, a pretty face begins to lose its effect on you. No, what made me look again were the light blue robes he was wearing and the same pastel shade of hat that must have been sitting on its head before it landed on the floor by the foot of a chair as it was now.

When he saw me looking, the man shot me a glittering smile that made me want to shade my eyes. This guy was beginning to look more and more like an Apollo kid in my eyes, and that was even _before _he began speaking.

"AH, I bet you think this is your lucky day, right ladies, bumping in to me? I guess you were coming for my book signing right?"

He then gave us a wink that made me feel sick. Guys like this were just the worst, with their heads so big that it was a surprise that it even fit in the county let alone on their head. Still, it could be a little endearing on some people, if they have those gorgeous sea-green eyes and adorable smirk… FOCUS ANNABETH!

Right as I was mentally slapping myself for spacing out, I noticed that Nico had stepped forwards to have a look at the guy, but, by the look on his face, he wasn't impressed.

"Um, not meaning to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you? And why would it be Thalia's lucky day when she could have hurt herself falling over you?"

Okay, leave it to the little goth kid to sound rude and abrupt, but he did have a point, who was this guy? One look however, and I was kind of glad that the little brat had no subtly in his body as this comment seemed to make the man's mood dim a little but, unfortunately, he soon recovered.

"Ah, some Americans I see, but I'm sure you have heard of me, my books should be quite famous over there too. I'm Gilderoy Lockhart, you know, Winner of Witch weekly's most charming smile award 2 years running?"

He looked at us as though he was expecting grovelling at his feet and stuttering fan girls, but all he really got was all the others looking at me with puzzled looks as though they expected me to know who he was, but, even though I had read a few wizard books that Chiron had leant me on the way over here, I still had no clue as to who he was. In the end, I turned to Hecate to see if she had the answers.

"Do you know him Professor Hex, I don't remember reading his name anywhere."

At this, the goddess seemed to think for a minute before shaking her head still looking a little thoughtful.

"Nope, sorry Mr Lockhart, but I don't think I have heard of you either."

The man seemed to look deeply affronted and shocked at that and I was beginning to wonder if this was going to blow our cover, especially as the man seemed just big headed enough to actually be as famous as he claimed. In desperation, I sent a quick look to our chaperone, but she just smiled at me and continued on smoothly.

"Well, I guess it isn't so hard to believe that we would miss a few changes in the times however, we do come from quite a secluded academy as we do not wish for our students to become distracted by events in the media. My name is Trivia Hex and I am the elemental charms teacher at Brunner's school for the gifted, it is a pleasure to meet you."

She offered Lockhart her hand to shake which he took, regaining some of his previous swagger and then he looked over our group with a question in his gaze."

"Ah, well, that will be it then, though I no doubt that you will want to show my books to all your other staff once you read them, they really are amazing in terms of defence magic and dealing with dark creatures. I am even going to be offering my services at Hogwarts for the year, teaching the students, though I would appreciate it if you kept that quiet for a little longer. I still have to make the official announcement you see."

We smiled and nodded through the rest of the encounter before he scurried off to some book signing he mentioned, leaving us all to breathe a sigh of relief when we saw the back of his robes vanish from sight. Almost as soon as he was gone however, we all stopped biting our tongues and let out exactly what we were thinking.

"What a pompous pratt! And we have to suffer through him as a _teacher _for the next year?"

"It's men like that that make me glad to be a hunter!"

"I know Hubris is my fatal flaw and everything, but even I don't act that arrogant!"

"What the Hades is wrong with my pets, why would I want to learn how to kill dark creatures when they are so cute!"

We all paused on our way down the street to stare at Nico for that comment, but, feeling our gazes fall on him, the son of Hades merely shrugged as if to say that he didn't see what our problem was. Eventually, Thalia managed to choke back her laughter long enough to comment on his complaint.

"Cute? How do you call any of those demons cute when they are trying to kill us all the time?"

"HEY! Don't knock Mrs O'Leary, she is the sweetest dog ever!"

We didn't realise how far we had gone until we reached the foot of a fabulous white building that dwarfed all of the shops around us. Admittedly, all of the little stalls and houses were brilliant and breath taking in this place, it was hard to take your eyes off of any of the displays, but this one really took the biscuit. From the looks of it, solid white marble, at least 40ft high and, oh, the craftsmanship on those pillars was AMAZING!

Hecate saw us all staring and she cracked up again at the looks on our faces.

"Welcome, demigods, to Gringotts wizarding bank. This place is probably the most secure in all of the world, well other than our home, but then, that isn't exactly on earth… still."

She told us to stay put while she went and retrieved the money we would need from all of our bank accounts that our parents had set up for us, leaving us to stare in awe at all the scenery around us, well until this kid came and caught sight of us. Swaggering over, it was easy to see the smirk on his pale, rat like face.

"I bet you 4 are new aren't you? You look like you've never been in here before. What are you, mudbloods?"

I stiffened at the last word he said, recognising it from one of the books Chiron had leant me. Apparently the children at Hogwarts that came from muggle (none magic) parents were called mudbloods by some people, and the phrase was not a nice one. Not even bothering to hide my look of disgust on my face, I walked to the front of the group (as all the others looked incredibly confused and were sure blow our cover if I let them speak to the brat.)

"Half-bloods actually," I grinned at the inside joke "And yes, this is our first time in…" Wracking my brain hard, I soon remembered what Hecate had called this place. "Diagonally, we just transferred here from Salem!"

I thought that that was going to shut the annoying brat up and make him move away before any of the others could speak to him, but my luck has never been reliable in the slightest, especially not when I need it the most.

"Transfers? To Hogwarts I suppose. I've never heard of it before though. What year are you guys in anyway, what house?"

I was thinking hard on what to say to this when Thalia stepped forwards, looking more than a little irritated at the boy. Thankfully, it was her and not one of the boys as I'm sure they would have come out with something a lot worse for our situation.

"We're in our second year by your standards, though our school goes right from the age of 7 and, as for a house, we aren't in one yet, we only just got here."

The boy nodded slightly at this as though it made sense, though I suppose that it did, and it looked like he was about to say something else, but just then, his eyes fell on something behind us and, as we all turned round to see what he was staring at, we spotted our 'teacher' coming down from the steps with a few bags in her hand. When she reached us, she handed them out so that we were all loaded down with these weird bronze, silver and gold coins before turning to us all as a group.

"Right, now that's sorted, lets go get all of your equipment, I have your lists all here and the first thing is… Robes. Now, off we go!"

With that, she swept off, leaving us to follow in her wake after a hurried goodbye to the pale kid who had been annoying us, which is something I can't really complain about. However, even as we followed quickly behind her, a new thought hit me and I had to stop myself from groaning, I bet Hogwarts has a traditional view on girls' uniforms don't they?

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**A/N: There you go, and I think it all made sense, still, sorry if it didn't cause I am kinda still really hyper. I blame my brother for giving me caffine earlier which always sends me high as a freaking kite (oh well, he's the one that has to deal with me right now :D), still, I hope you enjoyed the quick update. Anyway, the question for this chapter is:**

**Who discovered the 12 uses of dragon blood?**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Back again with yet another update, and this time you can thank my little cousin who kept pestering me for spoilers all today and got me thinking that I really need to write a new chapter. Anyway, this one is for ****Sol Spell Diggory ****with cookies here for:**

**Kat Callen**

**Enigmatic Person**

**Therna Blakeheart**

**Velocity Drew Warren**

**Wolfman613**

**Okay, on with the chapter.**

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Percy's PoV:

I sighed and looked up at the clock on the wall behind the counter yet again, we had been here for nearly an hour and a half and this really wasn't going anywhere fast.

"Come on Annabeth, its not like its going to kill you now is it? Not after all the monsters you've beaten."

No matter how hard I tried, it was almost impossible to keep my boredom out of my voice, after all, we had had this conversation several times already, and the answer was beginning to get more than a little repetitive and irritating. From behind the wooden divide that separated the changing area for the girls from the rest of the shop, Annabeth's reply came the same as ever.

"No. There is absolutely no way that I am going to be seen in _this_!"

Okay, this behaviour had long since stopped being cute. Tapping my foot on the floor to let out some of my frustration, I called back the same line that we had repeated over and over again to the point where I didn't even have to pause to think of it.

"But it's the school uniform, all the girls are going to be wearing it, its not like you will be the only one that's different!"

When she still refused to join the rest of us, I went to roll my eyes at my two cousins (Hecate having wandered off about half an hour ago saying something about 'urgent business') only to find that Thalia was standing by herself and glaring at the wooden panelling. However, before I could give too much thought to where Nico had vanished off to, he reappeared in front of us, holding a struggling daughter of Athena who he allowed to fall into a heap on the floor as he stepped away, grinning darkly.

"There, you're out in the open, we've seen you and you are not dead, so now can we stop with the stupid overreactions?"

He stalked off into the corner where the front desk lay to pay for our new robes (We had decided it was best to let him handle the money seeing as though his dad was the god of wealth and everything) mumbling something that sounded like 'drama queen' as he walked past, though I can't be sure because I was totally transfixed by the girl on the floor.

Now, don't get me wrong, normally Annabeth looks cute in the 'one wrong move and I'll kill you' way, but now, dressed in the white shirt and pleated grey skirt to just above her knee, her hair held back in a practical plait, she looked stunning. I know it sounds like I'm making it up, but there are some girls who can really pull off the geek chic theme and make it look good, and she did it perfectly.

I was so busy staring at her in shock that I didn't even notice I was being that obvious until she stood up and tossed me one of her sarcastic smirks, though it was slightly marred by the fact she was still feeling uncomfortable in the skirt.

"Like what you see seaweed brain?"

Her words snapped me back to there here and now and I turned away to hide my flaming cheeks, a situation that was not helped what so ever by a certain daughter of Zeus who decided to make this day 'pick on Percy' day.

"Oh yes, Kelp head definitely approves."

I don't know how, but we managed to get out of the shop rather quickly after that, our new school uniforms draped over our shoulders, though it was still getting on in the afternoon and, as none of us had had a proper meal since we had set off from JFK airport, we decided to stop off at this place to get some ice cream.

While Thalia and Annabeth went to order (never get between a girl and her ice cream, that was one of the first things I ever learned from living with my mom) Nico and I were left to stand awkwardly in the streets, looking around for any sign of Hecate or where she vanished off toe were standing like that, surrounded by a heavy silence, when 3 kids around our age walked up and, while the black haired boy went to order, his two friends were left standing at another one of the outside tables.

Looking us up and down, the girl (who had some amazingly bushy brown hair) strode forwards, a grin on her face that I guess was supposed to be friendly, but I thought looked more like a beaver. I felt bad for that comparison almost as soon as she started talking though, after all, she seemed nice enough.

"Hello, are you guys new students at Hogwarts this year? I don't remember seeing you around the castle before. I'm Hermione Granger by the way and this is Ron Weasley," She pointed at the last kid in their group, a tall guy with ginger hair and freckles "what are your names?"

Well, nice enough, but a little pushy. Still feeling rather out of place, we introduced ourselves and, when it go to the explanation of our cover story, Nico left all the explaining up to me, the little brat. I would get him for that later.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that we're new students. Us and the 2 girls in there" I pointed to Annabeth and Thalia where they stood almost drooling over the choice in flavours "Are transfer students from the Salem institute lf the Arcane Arts and we're going to join the 2nd year classes, I think."

I silently thanked who ever it was that named the American school for making it sound so strange that I remembered it, it wouldn't have been a good start if I couldn't even remember the name of my own school now would it? And to make matters worse, this girl had the same glint of cold intelligence in her eyes that Annabeth did, meaning that we had to be extra careful of what we said.

When I named the school, the Granger girl's eyes widened in excitement a split second before she started bombarding us with questions.

"Oooh, I've read about that school. Is it true that most of the pure-blood families were killed in the witch hunts? Do you do any special branches of magic abroad? What sort of curriculum do you have over in America?"

The sheer intensity of her enthusiasm actually made me take a step back and I began to panic slightly at the questions, but thankfully the boy beside her , Ron, started laughing and put a hand on her shoulder as though trying to physically reign her in.

"Okay, okay 'Mione, give the bloke a chance to breathe would ya?"

He then shot me an apologetic glance before rolling his eyes in a good humoured way.

"Don't take it personally, she tends to go overboard when it comes to chances to learn new things, you should have heard her when she found out that they were planning on publishing an updated version of 'Hogwarts: A History."

Although I didn't really understand what the last part of his comment had meant back I smiled back at him and had to restrain some of my own laughter when Nico suddenly smirked across at the two and decided to join in the conversation again.

"Oh, don't worry, we know someone like that don't we Perce? A certain girl with blond curls, grey eyes and a certain addiction to architecture that you always seem to follow around like a lost pup- OW, what the Ha… Hell did you do that for?"

I shot him a sickly sweet smile as I removed my foot from on top of his, not really noticing his slip up, but unfortunately, it seemed like I was the only one who didn't find it suspicious. Her eyes narrowing shrewdly, Hermione looked quickly between us before jumping straight to the point.

"It sounded like you were about to say something else there, what was it?"

We shot each other a frantic look at this, what were we going to tell her that didn't sound like a desperate cover up? The silence was beginning to stretch on a little too long when, thank the gods , another voice joined in behind me and I had a large cone shoved into my hand by good old pinecone face.

"Ah, Death Breath was raised in Italy until he was about 6 so he still goes off into the language when he gets annoyed, we've been trying to break him out of the habit, though the little dunce isn't a very fast learner."

Nico's eyes flashed at that, if there was one thing he hated, it was to be treated inferior to anyone he was with, especially with the inferiority complex he had over his sister. When he spoke again his voice had gone cold and menacing.

"Stay out of this Sparky, it isn't as though you don't start cursing in Greek every chance you get, you're even more stubborn than me!"

From the expression on both their faces, this was set to become a full out war until, yet again, the Granger girl stepped in, though how she could have been oblivious to the evil vibes coming off of my cousins, Zeus only knows.

"You don't half have some strange nicknames, do they stand for something?"

Glad of the excuse to step between the two without having my head ripped off as would normally have happened, I discreetly separated the two before smiling back at her.

"Yep, down to our specialist areas and special quirks such as Thalia's special gift when it comes to manipulating electricity. Trust me you do not want to go against this girl when she is angry! Ah, guys, looks like Annie's waiting over there for us, we better split. See ya!"

With that, I grabbed the two of them around the neck and dragged them off to where the daughter of Athena was waiting, licking happily at the vivid green ice cream she was holding in her left hand. When we approached, she offered identical one in her right to Nico and, when I glanced down, I saw that mine was of a similar shade. Casting here a suspicious glace, I continued to stare at the weird concoction.

"What's this? It doesn't look like anything back home."

She rolled her eyes in an irritated way at me, though her smile didn't move. One thing I learnt from all my quest was that this girl seemed to be incapable of being unhappy when she had something sweet in her hands.

"Its called mint and stornberry, try it, its quite good."

She then went back to devouring hers and, when I tried a tentative lick of mine, I found out that she was right, it was like a mix between mint humbugs and strawberries, which, strangely, worked quite well. I was just about to ask where we should go next when Nico suddenly stopped in his slurping to stare over my shoulder, a gob smacked expression frozen onto his face. Noticing this, Thalia also turned to check on the situation.

"Looks like Hecate's back and… sweet mother of Zeus, _what the Hades is she __holding_…?"

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**There you go, the new chapter. For this one, the question is: **

**What letter was on the jumper that George was wearing at Christmas in the philosopher stone?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: the answer for the last chapter was F, of course the twins would have swapped jumpers that's what makes them so great. Anyway, this chapter is for Black ****Gryphon101 ****with cookies here for:**

**Engimatic Person ****(They were in cones, but Thalia had hers and Percy's she gave it to him when he arrived)**

**Kat Callen**

**Therna Blakheart**

**Now, on with the chapter.**

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Nico's PoV

I was just looking around aimlessly while we were eating our ice creams when my eyes unconsciously locked onto the strong magical aura that was coming towards us. Realising that it was Hecate, I let my eyes focus instead of sliding away, but what I saw in her arms made me choke on my treat. Somewhere off to my left, I heard Thalia curse a little, but I was more focused on what our chaperone was carrying.

I could plainly see the wild grin on her face as she rushed towards us, her arms wrapped around 4 balls of… fluff (what the Hades was she doing with them?) with another one perched on her shoulder. As she got closer however, I could hear them squeaking slightly, that must have been what surprised Thalia earlier seeing as she had the best hearing out of all of us. Still, no matter how much the 4 of us studied the strange fur balls, none of us had an answer to what they were when she stopped dead in front of our little group. Then, my curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to ask.

"Um… He- I mean, professor Hex, what are they?"

I regretted those words as soon as I saw the more than slightly insane light in the goddesses eyes flare up. I had only run into Hecate twice before now, but it was enough to let me know that she was the most childish deity there seemed to be, and her idea of 'normal' was more than a little off centre. Still, they couldn't be all that dangerous could they? Her arms tightened slightly around the squeaking furby things before she answered.

"Pigmy Puffs, aren't they sweet?"

I'm pretty sure that I wasn't alone in throwing a concerned look at her for this, but, before we could protest, she had shoved one of the balls into each of her hands then started petting the one on her shoulder which began making a contented chirping sound.

Still completely gob smacked I glanced down at the little black thing that was now sniffing my arms from where it sat in my left hand, humming a little as it bounced up and down. Okay, it was soft, and it was kind of cute, but why did we have these? Catching our confused glances between each other, Hecate sighed happily and made her own ice cream appear out of thin air which she then began feeding to her… puff thingy.

"Oh, come on, Hogwarts allows you to take a pet with you so I thought it would be nice for you all to have different pets to the normal owls or cats, anyway, these little guys can be really useful… well, then can now that I've finished with them anyway."

Yes, that was very reassuring. Not only were we going to be the laughing stock of the school with these things, but they were also genetically modified experiments of a lunatic with magic. Perfect. Apparently however, I was the only one to think that as Annabeth actually had to tear her eyes away from the glowing silver puffle in her hand to ask the question that we were all thinking, before going back to adoring her new pet.

"What do you mean 'now that your done with them?' And how are they useful?"

Oh no, it looked like Hecate had been wanting someone to ask that… please just kill me now.

"Well, I just tweaked their nature a little bit, gave them some new colours and stuff, oh, and they can sense monsters that are near by and help you find each other if you ever get separated. That, and tell them what time you want to get up and they make amazing alarm clocks! Oh, by the way, you may want to give them names, Thalia and Annabeth, yours are guys where as Nico and Percy have girls."

With that, she walked off, leaving us to follow hurriedly in her wake, still, as we all but ran after her, I couldn't help but glance at the bouncing ball of fluff in my hand every 5 seconds as it tried to reach my other hand. In the end, I gave up and let it eat the rest of my ice cream to keep it quiet and, after that, it was content to sit as a small patch of warmth on my shoulder. In fact, it was so quiet that I was beginning to think that it had fallen asleep as we entered the cauldron shop, then the apochraphy.

We were just leaving this shop, our arms weighed down with bags full of potion ingredients when I remembered what our guide had said about naming the little creatures. It was then that my eyes fell on the shelf of poisons just to the left of the door I was just walking out off. Grinning slightly, I pet the puff thing on what I thought was its head and whispered across to it.

"How about the name Pavetta, make you sound cute _and _deadly."

She started humming again which I guess was her way of saying she approved and I hurried off after the others just as they entered into what must have been a book shop judging from the display out front. As we walked in however, it was only to find it much more crowded than I had anticipated, there was a long line seemingly made up entirely of middle aged women, heading right from the back of the shop up to here, all of whom were jostling around the book selves and chattering nervously amongst themselves. For a moment, I was more than a little surprised and almost walked into Annabeth as she had stopped dead in her tracks, but then I saw a large banner that said something about a book signing so I guess that explained it all.

Moving my eyes from the cue however, I finally found out what had stopped the daughter of Athena short and nearly laughed at the longing expression on her face as she gazed dreamily around the store which was stocked, floor to ceiling, with rows and rows of books. I suppose this was her kind of paradise, though the others were faring little better. Taking in the shocked expressions on my cousins' faces, I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to muffle my sniggers, though this place _was_ pretty cool, what with all the books on dark arts and hexes I could see from between the robes of the gathered crowd. Checking to see that Hecate was completely occupied by checking our book lists, I quietly slipped away to examine one of the piles more closely. I was just flipping through the pages of 'Dark Wizards through out History' when I heard a slightly familiar voice.

"Oh, you're one of the ones from out side Gringotts earlier right? I don't remember catching your name."

I snapped the book shut quickly and looked up into the grey eyes of that pale, weasel faced kid from earlier. Standing behind him was a man that must have been his father, who was looking at the title of the book in my hands with a slight smirk on his face. Gods did I want to punch him, but, deciding that it was better to keep that particular opinion to myself, I merely stuck my hand out to the brat and put on my most bored voice to answer.

"Nico Di'Angelo, and you are?"

I noticed him flinch slightly when he felt my ice cold skin and had to fight to keep a grin off of my face while he answered, his thin, nasily voice was beginning to hurt my ears.

"Draco Malfoy, I'm a second year at Hogwarts."

I nodded at this, and started looking around to see if any of the others could come and rescue me from the mini dragon wannabe, but they were all distracted with their own interests and I was left to deal with this stupid situation on my own. Suddenly, something the boy said clicked in my head and I remembered Annabeth saying something about it earlier.

"Oh, that means we are going to be in the same year then, I think, I'm still not too sure about the British age thing when it comes to school."

He smirked slightly at my words and was about to make what I was sure was going to be an incredibly irritating and petulant comment when he stopped short, glaring at something over my shoulder, his little eyes narrowing to near slits. Intrigued and silently congratulating who ever it was who made this moron so irritated, I turned to see a skinny boy with black hair and glasses get pulled to the front of the crowd by the guy we had run into earlier. Wow, this really was a small world.

I looked back to see if I could get an explanation from the guy behind me, but he was just glaring at the boy up front and muttering under his breath so fast that it was hard to make out more than the odd word, though I am fairly sure that I heard the words 'Perfect Potter' and 'Fawning Imbeciles.' At first I didn't understand what was going on (the little guy hopping around with his camera and purple smoke really wasn't help in that aspect) but then I remembered one of dad's rants about this kid named Harry Potter that just wouldn't die… that and some guy named Tom Riddle.

Actually interested now, I poked Draco in the ribs, making him jump but turn around to face me, his eyes finally left the two people at the front and focused on my face. Trying not to give away my sudden attentiveness, I worked to keep my apathetic tone as I asked him if that boy was Harry Potter, though I guess I wasn't doing too good of a job as his face darkened quite considerably.

"Yes, why did you want to know anyway, do you want to go fawn over him too?"

Wow, someone was really having some issues with a certain green monster, though I don't think it will be very tactful to mention that fact to him. Instead, I settled for inspecting the runt of a kid that was up in clear view, not even trying to hide the thoughtfulness in my voice this time.

"Nope, I just thought… from hearing my father's rants about how much he hates him, that he would be a little more, I don't know… Impressive?"

Completely shocking me out of my contemplation of Harry, Draco suddenly cracked up laughing before clapping me on the shoulder mumbling something that sounded like 'I knew I liked you' while his dad was fighting a grin as he shushed us.

"Obviously from your accent young Nico, you are not from around here, but, just some quick advise, it would not do well for people to hear you speaking ill of the Potter boy around here. He is loved for being the downfall of one of the strongest dark wizards of the age so you must watch your language, no matter what you may think of him… privately."

After this however, I seemed to have become the pale kid's best friend from the way he started prattling on to me about menial matters and I was almost glad when I saw Thalia approaching with a murderous look in her eyes. Almost being the operative word there.

"We were wondering where you disappeared off to zombie boy, Professor Hex was spouting some nonsense about you being swallowed up by a giant black dog thing and the bloody kelp head was actually believing her. Come on, we're leaving, now!"

With that, I barely had time to shoot an apologetic look back at a rather shocked Malfoy family before my cousin dragged me bodily from the shop, Pavetta squeaking happily on my shoulder. When she finally let me stand on my own feet, I stood there glaring at Thalia, but I made a mental note to thank her later, if I was ever in the mood I mean. I think, when we get to that school, I have found someone else that I want to avoid as much as possible.

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**A/N: There you have the new chapter, I hope you liked it. Anyway, this chapter's question is:**

**What was Aunt Marge's favourite bull dog called?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Back again. Man I rally do have no social life, here I am on summer holidays and I sit home writing new chapters instead of hanging out with my friends **** oh well, this chapter is for: ****Velocity Drew warren ****with cookies here for:**

**BlackGryphon101**

**TimeLadyofTARDIS**

**Icestorm238**

**Child of Hermes-God of stealth **

**Slytheringril114**

**Enigmatic Person**** (Magic typically comes from creatures with some connection to Hades' realm meaning that it is very similar to an underworld aura. It is close enough that Nico can detect it if the source is strong enough. Does that clear things up for you? If not, I will try to explain better next chapter…)**

**Sol Spell Diggory**

**Bronzeheart**

**Therna Blakeheart **

**I swear… you guys are eating me all out of cookies ;) oh well, let the story commence!**

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Thalia's PoV:

As the man walked away I made sure that his back was turned before brandishing a very rude gesture in his direction and storming back to where the others were waiting with our trolleys loaded with the trunks and the little boxes that our new pets slept in. honest to Zeus I really wanted to punch someone but, unfortunately, the specific target that I had in mind had, conveniently, managed to disappear (seemingly) off the face of the planet… AGAIN!

By now, I was seriously wondering what Hecate's purpose on this trip was, after all, all she had managed to achieve so far was to abandon un in the middle of a crowded wizard street no less than 4 times on different days, and now she had left us alone in a mortal train station looking for a platform that apparently didn't exist. Once again I turned to Annabeth who was holding the tickets, begging her for a different answer to my, already, over used question.

"Are you sure it says platform 9 3/4, are you absolutely positive that your dyslexia isn't playing up again?"

Sighing she squinted down at the shiny strips she was holding once again, willing them to give her a different number, but she merely shook her head at me.

"Positive, what I don't get is why the ticket would say such an impossible destination, unless it is magic again. From what I've red, it is something incredibly similar to how the mist works for us and…"

I turned away from the nervously babbling girl to check the large clock face once again. 10:45, we had exactly 15 minutes to find out where we were supposed to go and this approach was getting us absolutely no where. Out of sheer frustration, I kicked out at the annoying divider between platforms 9 and 10, expecting my foot to bounce off of the metal, not to go through it.

Seeing my foot disappear into a seemingly solid barrier was enough of a shock to make me yelp and soon all of the others were there staring in shock at my lost limb. Honestly, from here it looked like the bottom part of my leg and foot didn't exist and it was a pretty unnerving feeling, even if I was an immortal huntress. Getting annoyed by the feeling, I slowly pulled my foot back out, every minute expecting something to latch on to it from the unseen other side, but soon I was back all in one piece and the others were still staring at the barrier in wonder.

I glanced at the clock again, now we only had 10 minutes which meant there was no time to stand around looking gormless. Quickly as I could, I spun round and grabbed my trolley, my sudden movement seeming to break the others out of their shocked state a they all turned to me, a questioning look on all of their faces.

"So… I take it that's the entrance to the secret platform then?"

I shot a look at Percy and then shrugged, I didn't know, but I was sure as Hades going to find out. Steeling myself to do something that I would normally only condone under the influence of a nectar overdose amongst the girls, I took one last look at the others before running flat out at the now very solid looking wall. At the last second, I cringed to the side slightly, bracing myself for an impact that didn't come and, when I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing in the middle of a very smoky platform surrounded by loads of people in long robes.

Before long, all the others had plucked up their courage and followed me through, though Annabeth was now having to calm down her little puffle thing which she called Deadalus after her fallen brother. His squeaking was attracting way too much attention and we were soon moving away into the shadows of the train, however, we weren't quick enough as, it seems, a rather annoying person spotted us.

"Ah, Nico, there you are, I've been looking for you everywhere."

It was that bratty kid I had pulled Nico away from in the book shop the other day and, as he approached us now, I saw the little goth kid shoot a frantic look around all of us as he pleaded for us to help him. Unfortunately for him, I was the only one who saw seeing as though Percy was going back and forth taking our trunks to an empty compartment he had found and Annabeth was still preoccupied with her pet. Grinning slightly at my cousin, I quickly dragged the daughter of Athena onto the train, following kelp head just as the boy arrived.

I was still laughing at Nico's expression of betrayal when I slouched into my seat by the window. Man it was good to be with these guys again, sure the huntresses were like my sisters, but there was nothing that could beat a little family kindness.

For a while we were alone in our compartment as the day wore on, all of us talking about anything and everything that came into our heads. The son of Hades didn't once make a reappearance and Percy was beginning to get a little worried, but I told him that the brat was off with a friend so he calmed down pretty quickly though the girl beside him shot me a strange look. Hmm, looks like she had been paying attention back there after all, whoops.

Fortunately for me, I was saved from having to provide and explanation when a girl with bushy brown hair timidly opened up the door to our compartment and looked around as though she was searching or someone. It took me a while, but I finally recognised her as the girl from outside the ice cream shop that seaweed brain had been talking earlier. She, on the other hand, looked to distracted to try to remember us right away though.

"Sorry to interrupt, but have any of you seen my friends Ron and Harry anywhere, I've searched the whole train and now I'm beginning to get worried."

Okay, she had obviously noticed the fact that we looked around 12 (thank you lovely lovely mist) and thought that we were older than our first year, but still, we didn't know who she was talking about. I wasn't going to say that one particular detail however, but, seeing as though we had kelp head in our group, I guess it was kind of a hopeless case.

"Um… who are you looking for?"

This brought the girl up short as she recognised the accent as being foreign, then she looked at us properly and she grinned.

"Oh, you guys are the ones from earlier in diagonally aren't you? Ron was the boy I was with when I was talking to you at that time and Harry was the black haired kid getting the ice creams. Anyway, have you seen them?"

We all thought for a minute before shaking our heads. Sure we had seen several read headed kids getting on the train, but none of them looked like the one she was with that day. Sighing in defeat, the girl flopped down in the empty seat beside me looking as tired as we all felt (seriously, thanks to the row that Nico had got into with Annabeth last night I don't think any of us got any sleep.) She sat like that for a little while before speaking again.

"I just want to know why I haven't found them anywhere, I've searched the whole train!"

We all exchanged looks, not knowing how to cheer the girl up, but somehow we managed it and soon, she was back to questioning us about our school again. Geez, this girl was like another Annabeth, once she got started on something, she never let it drop.

"You said that your branch of the school was only for half-bloods… what about all the others? Where do they learn?"

I sighed and leaned my head against the cold glass of the window, silently thanking all the gods for the fact that Annabeth had forced us all to sit down and get our stories straight during our stay in diagonally.

"Well, our branch is for kids with a special natural talent in a certain area. We call it a blood lineage as it is passed down from all the ancient wizarding families and can be anything like Percy's natural control over water or the fact that I can control electricity with just my thoughts."

She nodded at that and I thought that we were finally going to get a break, but oh no, this Granger girl was just getting started, mores the pity!

"Okay, so I understand how that means that there are no muggle borns there, but what about pure-bloods, shouldn't they be more likely to get these gifts than half-bloods?"

We all looked at Percy and Annabeth nudged him ever so slightly with her foot so that it was undetectable by the granger girl, but his eyes went wide in understanding and he burst out in pretty realistic laughter until he caught the look on the girl's face and stopped pretty quickly.

"Oh, you were serious… oops."

We both turned to 'glare' at him and, while her face was blocked from the other girl by her hair, Annabeth shot him a wink, before turning back to our new friend and rolling her eyes slightly, as though Percy had just done something incredibly irritating and/or embarrassing.

"Sorry about that, but he thought you were joking. Back in the states, you're lucky if you can meet a few pure bloods in your life. After the Salem witch trials, so many of them were killed that the only pure bloods that we know of are teachers or other adults. As for keeping us apart from the muggle borns, its for their safety, we start school at around age 7 as that is when our um… natural aptitudes begin to make themselves known. At the start, most of us can't really control them too well so we can be pretty dangerous."

I thought for a minute that we may have done something wrong with out little act, the girl did seem pretty shrewd, but thankfully she seemed to be buying the story so far and she moved on to a different line of questioning.

"What exactly can you do then? I mean, I know you said about the electricity and water, but is there anything else to that? And what do you do Annabeth?"

At her words, Percy perked up and grinned at her. From his pocket he pulled out a bottle of water and started making the content fly around the compartment before freezing it into the shape of a rose on her hand, something that Annie didn't look too happy about and it was with a bit of an edge to her voice that she answered the question.

"I deal with intelligence and my gift helps me when it comes to strategies and stealth, purely a mental ability where as people like Nico have physical ones. He's the boy we were with earlier, he's a necromancer."

She added the last part looking at the girl's questioning glance, but as she said the last word, Hermione turned pale for a minute before seemingly taking control of herself again.

"oh, where is he by the way, I haven't seen him around here?"

Now it was my turn to laugh, and, when they all turned to look at me like I had gone insane, I just shrugged before smiling sweetly at the others.

"Oh, he is off socialising, he met a new friend the other day so I think he is with them."

I had just finished speaking as it was, when the compartment door slid open with a sharp snap to revile an incredibly irritated son of Hades who just so happened to be emitting his strongest death aura, and making me laugh ten times harder than normal.

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**There you go, I actually feel sorry for Nico, having to put up with Draco but, oh well, its funny too. Anyway, this is like the 3****rd**** draft of this chapter so I hope you enjoyed it, anyway, the question is:**

**How many staircases are there in Hogwarts? (Hint: it is mentioned in the first book)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay here is your new chapter which is for ****TimeLadyofTARDIS**** with cookies here for**

**Velocity Drew Warren**

**Therna Blakeheart**

**Enigmatic Person**

**The answer was 142 so I hope the next one will be easier for you all (I say hope cause I never think of it till I finish writing the chapter and I do this at the start heh heh.)**

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Annabeth's PoV:

When Thalia had first said that Nico had been off talking to people, I knew she was up to something that did not bode well for us all. What I did not anticipate however, was the fact that, for the next hour or so until we got to the school we would constantly be pulling the two of them apart as they tried to kill each other. Still, we all managed to arrive at the station with only minor cuts, bruises and one or two electrical burns (something that the daughter of Zeus found hilarious might I add.) However, once we got onto the cold platform, we froze in place. Now what were we supposed to do?

"Normally the first years go across the lake in boats, then all the other years go through the gates in carriages , but it's your guys' first time here even though you are in the second year so…"

Hermione allowed her voice to trail off there as she started glancing around edgily, almost as though she expected the answer to come flying at her from out of the gloom and, strangely enough, it all but did, in the form of a giant of a man carrying a candle lit torch.

"Firs' years over te me now, come on firs' years. Ah, yer mus be the new American transfers, am I right? Yer to come with me 'swell now, come on o'r here now."

Even though he said this, I still felt all the others turn to look at me, after all, we were used to giants as being on the bad side in the legends, the ones who sided with Gaia in the myths of ancient time, yet here was one who seemed perfectly friendly. Still Hecate would not take us here if there was anything dangerous right? Giving an almost unnoticeable nod to the others, I walked over to the pool of lamp light where the younger children were beginning to gather.

"Hey, hey, are you sure this is alright… we don't even know if this guy is safe or not."

Thalia whispered in my ear, trying to be discreet about her ready battle stance by hiding behind me, but I just turned to her, hands on hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Did you know that that Malfoy brat was safe when you let him drag Nico off? For all you knew he could have been a monster in disguise or one of the traitors."

That wiped the look off of her face, though it was only to be replaced by a glare being sent in my direction, but it wasn't as though I was unused to those types of looks and it was pretty easy to ignore, especially in the light of the new worry I had thought of. The boats.

Yes, I knew that Poseidon was better than his brothers when it came to this sort of thing, but that didn't change the fact that he and my mother were major rivals so, it was still against my nature to step onto the bobbing craft that sat idly on the black water. In fact, if it wasn't for Percy's warm arms around my waist helping me on, I think I might have run off in the opposite direction. Thankfully, I could see that I was not the only one with those thoughts as the only one who truly looked calm in this situation was seaweed brain, though that was only to be expected.

Despite the reassurance that Poseidon would never knowingly attack his own son, it was still quite a nerve wracking experience though, if you managed to get past the whole "I have a sea deity that would probably love to drown me" thing, travelling across the calm water in the self propelled vessels was actually rather pleasant. I was even beginning to notice that Percy had 'forgotten' to remove his arms from my waist (not that I really minded but…) when the giant man, Hagrid, called out to mind our heads and we reached an amazing underground dock.

From here, we were met by a rather strict looking woman in a set of green robes that lead us through some beautifully crafted hallways, where I had to be pulled along by the others, before leaving us in a small anti-chamber.

All around us, the younger kids were chattering nervously amongst themselves so I pulled the others over to one side where we put our heads together.

"What do you think happens next? …Professor Hex said something about a sorting but she didn't say anything about how its done. What do you think we're going to be asked to do?"

"Um… maybe we have to fight something?"

"It can't be too hard Kelp Head, the other are just kids with no magic experience so its not like they are going to be fighting demons yet."

I looked across at Nico, expecting him to join in the debate with his cousins, but when I faced him, I could see the little goth's face was frozen with a cold fury as he stared at something over my shoulder. Quite frankly, his expression scared me, especially as he was using the underworld death glare that he so excelled at, so, when I span round to face the oncoming enemy, I was not, repeat NOT impressed when the only threat I found were ghosts. Sensing that this may be something really dangerous for our cover, I immediately reached out and grabbed his arm. To my surprise, the others joined in.

"Let me GO."

We all glared at the struggling little kid, forcing him to stay put instead of going to go yell at the spirits that were just about to glide through the opposite wall after scaring some of the new kids half to death.

"Nico, we're meant to be undercover, un-der-cov-er, do you even know what that means?"

"Can it Annabeth, these people shouldn't be here. How would you feel if someone was playing with your mom's domain? Would you sit quietly in the corner."

"Yes, if it mean t keeping us all safe!"

It looked like he was going to reply, but that exact second, the door reopened and that witch from earlier reappeared to beckon us out into the entrance chamber before stopping at an elaborate pair of doors before telling us about the four houses, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor, and how our actions would affect the point system. At the end of the year, an award would be given to the house with the most points.

As soon as she had finished her obviously well practised speech, she threw the doors open and, in a long straggly line, we followed her down the centre Isle between two long tables and up to the one at the top of the hall.

This new room was simply amazing, with arches so majestic I would never have even dreamt of them, and pillars that would not have looked out of place on Olympus itself. Both of these however, paled in comparison to the cavernous ceiling that, obviously by the use of enchantments, mimicked the night sky outside, right down to the star constellation of Zoë the huntress.

So absorbed was I by this that I didn't notice the fact that an ragged looking hat perched on a stool in front of us had begun to sing, its word echoing in the silence, but melding together in a senseless jumble while I marvelled at the room around us. I only just began to come back into focus when I realised that we were the only ones still standing in front of the crowded hall, and now we were the centre of attention. Just brilliant.

Rolling up a roll of parchment, the woman from before now turned to the students sat at their tables and addressed them in a tone of authority, rather like Chiron back home.

"Now, this year we are pleased to announce that we will be hosting some exchange students from the Salem Institute of the arcane arts in America. Along with their teacher, Professor Trivia Hex, who will be assisting us in general lessons, they will be joining us for a year. I have been informed that they will all be joining the second year so I expect you all to be welcoming to them in their houses. Now, for the sorting. Chase, Annabeth!"

Gripping Percy's hand tightly for the last time, I walked forwards towards the three legged stool and sank onto it gladly as the hat was placed on my head, cutting off all of my vision so that I was sat there in dark silence… no, not silence.

"Ahhh, a demigod, not had one of you for a very long time. Now, is it safe for me to look through your memories?"

"ummm, sure?"

Okay, not my best moment when it comes to sparkling conversation, but what can I say, I was still a little shocked from the fact that the _hat _was_ talking _in my _head! _Still, it was really funny about two seconds in when he started screaming. Thankfully it was still in my head so the only one to have to suffer through the mental torture.

"You lied, you said you memories were safe!"

"Well, I lived through them, I thought they would be okay for an… adult? Or hat, I don't know what to call you!"

"Well that wasn't very nice."

"Sorry, I'm still trying to get over the fact that you can talk."

"Ah, apt I suppose, coming from the one who saw a girl fall out of a tree."

"In my defence that is not a normal occurrence for us and I saw her go in there in the first place."

"Well, whatever it may be, I think I will make my decision based on your personality instead of your past if you will be so kind as to allow me that small indulgence."

"Do I really have a choice in the matter?"

"No, now be quiet a minute… hmm, very clever, you would make an excellent Ravenclaw, not surprising really if one considers your heritage, still, I think there may be a better place. You are brave yes, your courage cannot be denied, though perhaps not Gryffindor nor though you are rather loyal and cunning. A good match for any house I can bet though there has to be something to tip the balance, no one is a perfect mix between the houses, that I can be sure of."

He (well, at least I think it's a he, do hats even have genders?) fell silent for a moment and I could feel him shifting through some of my more pleasant memories before he stopped on a specific one that made me want to bang my head on the wall beside me. He had stopped on the time I had been the most stupid and foolish I ever had in my life, the time with the sierens.

"Oh, so it seems that your fatal flaw, in simple English, would be arrogance would it not? I will take you groan there as a yes. Now I know the perfect place to put you… SLYTHERIN!"

He shouted the last bit to the entire hall and one of the tables burst into applause, the one covered in green and silver, and, as soon as the hat was removed from my head, I ran down there, glad to be out of the spotlight as I slipped into a spare seat just in time to hear the witch at the front call out.

"Di Angelo, Nico!"

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**A/N; there we have it, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The question today is going to be **

**Which werewolf attacked Bill Weasley?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Right, I Really hate doing long author's notes, but this time I really feel like its necessary. After the last chapter, I knew I was going to get a few surprised reviews, but I didn't expect to have people actively telling me off for my choice of houses and, quite frankly, I'm a little bit upset that some of you are doubting me **** Still, this is a place for me to explain my intentions as I am not going to change her house no matter what. First of all, I know that Annabeth is Intelligent enough to be put in Ravenclaw, Brave enough to be put in Gryffindor and Loyal enough to be put in Hufflepuff, but I just don't see her in any of those houses. Secondly, her fatal flaw is Hubris which means to have god like arrogance and ambition, which is the main trait of the Slytherin house. Also, Her gift when it comes to battle strategy can easily be classed as "cunning" which also aligns with that house rather nicely. Okay, now the rant is over, I can get back to the happy part ****! (sorry for those who didn't complain and wasted time reading that…)**

**This chapter is for ****TimeLadyofTARDIS ****with cookies here for:**

**Velocity Drew Warren**

**Fokker333**

**Sol Spell Diggory **

**Therna Blakeheart**

**BlackGryphon101**

**Romana Italia**

**Wind19**

**Enigmatic Person **

**Guest**

**Now, on with the story and enjoy**

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Nico's PoV:

Once Annabeth had taken a seat on the old wooden stool, things got so quiet I swear I could hear Percy's heart beating next to me, but I guess that isn't really hard to believe that the school would be interested in us, after all, they were not used to transfer students. Still, it was rather uncomfortable to be looked over by so many sets of eyes and I was itching to just fade back into the shadows, but that would just gather more attention so I settled with hiding behind Percy instead, which helped to hide me from the ghosts who were watching in great interest.

The longer the silence stretched with Annabeth wearing the hat however, the more uncomfortable things became and I reckoned that we had been in these positions for the past 5 minutes before the hat roared out "Slytherin" in a loud voice that made us all jump. My heart beat sped up a little now, and not just because of the shock. If, as it seemed, we were going to go about this alphabetically, then I would be the next one to be called out. In front of all these people. To be stared at like some exotic creature in a zoo. Just Brilliant!

"Di Angelo, Nico."

Fixing a cocky look on my face, I forced myself to saunter towards the hat like it was no big deal, even though my heart seemed to be beating in my mouth and some moron had apparently replaced my legs with jelly. Still, it was with great relief that I slid down onto the provided seat with the hat covering my eyes. I have to say, the darkness was a comfort, cutting off my view of all those faces turned my way, but that didn't last long as the stupid piece of fabric started speaking in my head! Damn him to Hades.

"_I resent that last comment young demigod, I am far from stupid."_

"_Oh…er, sorry?"_

I didn't really think about the response too much, the tone in its voice kind of making me reply on instinct, still, I couldn't help feeling a little strange apologising to a _hat _of all things. I could tell it wasn't happy with that last bit, but apparently it was used to such comments as, when it spoke again, it had adopted a long suffering tone that made me want to laugh out loud.

"_Oh, never mind, I can tell that there is no point in arguing the point with one as… stubborn, as yourself. Now, I will ask you the same question that I asked the girl before you, is it safe to look into your memories?"_

I thought about that for a moment, weighing up whether to say yes just to see its reaction, or actually be truthful and avoid annoying it further, eventually, I decided to be tactful about the whole thing and just go with the right answer.

"_Um, I'm a son of the Lord of the dead, I really don't think you want to see too much of what I have."_

"_Very well then, let me see about where to put you… bravery far greater than most, though I guess that is common amongst you children. Loyal too, but what's this… ah, well, that is significant…"_

I blanched when I noticed what memory he was looking at, the time with Minos when I tried to raise my sister, the anger I had felt towards Percy for failing to protect her… damn.

"_Look, can you not go on that, I was just a kid… and I was in shock, I didn't really know what I was doing!"_

I tried to plead my case desperately, but the hat wasn't fooled, mores the pity.

"_For that case maybe, but that does not change the fact that you possess much anger child, and cunning, yes far more than that of the girl, and your thoughts run through dark paths, I know where you will best be suited…._SLYTHERIN!"

I sighed and slipped the hat off of my head, handing it to the old witch next to me before going down and slipping into a seat next to Annabeth. Unfortunately, she had sat in a set near that brat Malfoy who was grinning at me as the others clapped me on the back before turning to watch the first of my cousins to be sorted. Now I had to spend a full year rooming with someone I despised… how fun!

**(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) Om nom nomCOOKIE LINE BREAKOm nom nom (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

Thalia's PoV:

"Grace, Thalia."

I tried not to grit my teeth when my full name was called, but I'm pretty sure that I failed to hide my grimace as I heard Percy chuckle slightly beside me, but I ignored him and went to take my place where I would have my privacy invaded by a magical talking hat while I was watched by several annoying boys. Gah, when I get home I swear that I am never leaving the hunt again, no matter what!

"_Ah, yet another godling, I seem to be meeting many of you today, but what an honor, to meet a child of Zeus."_

I groaned internally at this, something that made the thing chuckle. I hated to be recognized as the daughter of my father rather than for being myself, after all, you just had to see where being the daughter of Zeus got me.

"_Hmm, yes, that does appear to be an interesting experience, being a tree and all that. I am curious though, how did you end up in such a state?"_

I sighed but decided not to complain too much, after all, what harm could come from showing him that specific day? Hell, it may even help him place me. Wincing slightly, I gave him a mental replay of the last day of my 12 year old life.

"_Oh, and interesting ordeal, but it seems that, for the sake of your friends, you would gladly give up your own life no? Such loyalty is uncommon, though I feel that the better place for you would be… _GRYFFINDOR!"

Okay, house of the brave… I could live with that, even if it meant that I wouldn't get much contact with Annabeth and Nico. Feeling a little lighter than before, I made my way down to the table decked out in gold and crimson, smiling when I saw a familiar face next to an empty seat.

"Hey Hermione."

"Oh, hi Thalia."

The girl seemed to be more than a little distracted when she responded, and I couldn't help but notice that her eyes kept up a constant sweep of the hall as though she was desperately trying to find someone. Still, I doubted that I would be any use to her, being a newbie here and everything, and I turned back to the front of the hall just in time to see old Kelp Head land flat on his face…

**(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) Om nom nomCOOKIE LINE BREAKOm nom nom (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

Percy's PoV:

I cannot believe it, why is it that every time I have to make a good impression on people, I end up tripping over something? Well, this time I'm going to blame it on the stupid dress thing I'm wearing, its too restrictive of my movements. Still, face flaming with embarrassment, I pushed myself up, brushing off the dust before taking my place on the stool, trying to ignore the hushed snickers from the students and the faint grin I could see on the face of the headmaster. But, just my luck, I didn't even get a break when the hat covered my face, how did it even see my fall, did it have like, hidden eyes or something?

"_Well, that was quite impressive."_

It chuckled slightly as it spoke making me want to glare at it, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint where its voice was coming from so I just settled to trying to ignore the whispers in my ear.

"Sorry, but that isn't going to work."

"Shut up and do whatever it is that you need to do already."

Well, that just made it laugh even harder, though it did actually begin to root around inside my skull. Even though I knew it wasn't going to hurt me however, I couldn't help but feel more than a little uncomfortable having someone look through my innermost thoughts, but some of the things he saw soon took the mirth out of the hat's tone.

"_Wow, you have had quite a childhood haven't you, all those quests and still you have a prophecy hanging over your head. That is quite the weight to bear is it not?"_

I was so sorely tempted to say something like, 'oh no, that just makes my life so much easier!' but decided that it probably wasn't the best idea to come off as snarky so I settled instead, for biting down on y tongue, trying to stop the words from coming out, even though I would have been saying them in my mind… huh, no idea how that works.

"_I can sense you have a good heart despite your trials hero, and bravery to back up your morals. Though many do not see it, you are actually quite resourceful aren't you, and in battle this has saved the lives of many people… though I see that your loyalty to your friends binds you, restricting your actions. 'To save a friend your would sacrifice the world.' I am sure you have heard words similar to this in the past am I right?"_

I nodded dumbly at him, remembering that particular conversation with Athena in a kind of bitter sweet way, but there was no way that he was going to let me space out here, the hat was on a roll and something as trivial as a slightly traumatic experience was not going to stop him.

"_Yes, I though as much. Now the question is, where to put you, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, those are the ones that suit you best. Now, just let me think for a moment…"_

He fell silent after this, occasionally mumbling to himself as he observed a particularly unpleasant memory from my past, but eventually, he settled on one of the ones from my first year at camp, well, a hole range of them really. Losing my mom, fighting Ares, Luke's Betrayal. When he next spoke, his voice was strained and barely more than a whisper.

"_You poor child, such a past with a far worse future to come as has been predicted by your oracle. While you are here at least I believe you need a trustworthy family, one that will welcome you and where you immense sense of duty to your friends will be reciprocated by those around you. However, it is through your own merit that I am going to place you in…_HUFFLEPUFF!"

With that, I gladly slipped down to an empty seat at the yellow and black table where I was greeted, rather surprisingly, by hugs and many people grinning at me. It was so different, being in the middle of the crowd after so long eating at the lonely Poseidon table, but I was nice, warm. I liked it.

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**A/N: Okay, there you go, I hope you like my choices, but if not, have a little faith in me, I knew where I want to take this story and the houses fit in my head. Anyway, I got a complaint last chapter from a certain guest reviewer that stalks all of my stories (love you really) that the last question was too easy, so, especially for you, I have made this question harder. Hope this is more to your taste :P**

**What was Professor Flitwick's first name?**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Right. Sorry for the wait, but now I'm back **** for all those who asked for a reason for Annabeth to be put in Slytherin, look at the Author's Note at the beginning of the last chapter (Or if you can't be bothered, remember that her fatal flaw is Hubris which is immense arrogance and ambition) and that should explain it to you, for now however, this chapter is for: ****Velocity Drew Warren ****with cookies here for:**

**TimeLadyofTARDIS**

**Wolfman613**

**Ambar576**

**AGreyMood**

**Sol Spell Diggory**

**Icestorm238**

**Vanilla Thunder**

**EnigmaticPerson (****I hope you have fun!)**

**Guest**

**Guest**

**Now, on with the story!**

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Nico's PoV:

The last one in our little group to be sorted was, obviously, Percy and, being the kelp head he is, he just had to trip up when he was going to the hat didn't he? All around me I heard the other members of my new house snickering at the clumsiness he displayed but I shot a look at Annabeth and she just rolled her eyes at me, pulling a face that made me clamp my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.

For a while, after putting on the hat, Percy just sat there in silence, though he seemed to be fidgeting on the stool, not that I can blame him really, after all he is not the only one of us to have ADHD, but the whole sorting thing was beginning to drag on for longer normal. Finally, the tear near the brim of the hat opened up and shouted out "Hufflepuff" really loudly. Beside me, I heard Draco snort at the house name making me feel more than a little defensive of my cousin. From the tone of Annabeth's voice I could tell that she was just as annoyed about it as me.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Her tone was the sharp one she normally reserved for ordering around troupes on the battle field, but it seemed like we had found someone it had no effect on because Draco just shook his head grinning slightly.

"Oh, nothing but the fact that that house if for losers, if I was him, I would quit right here and now, but I guess some people have to end up in there and he probably isn't any better than the rest of them."

Okay, now he sounded like how some the Ares kids did when they decided it would be a good idea to pick on me for being a child of Hades at camp… well how they sounded until the last battle where I proved about as useful as their entire cabin on my own. Still, I really hated it when people took that kind of tone when talking about my friends and family.

"Hey, Percy is my cousin, leave off!"

That seemed to bring the little prick up short as he turned to give me a disbelieving look.

"Oh you poor thing, at least you get away from him now and, just in case, you better not tell anyone else that, it isn't the sort of thing to be proud of."

Okay now it was my turn to send the brat a death glare and I know for a fact that he was actually affected by me as his pale face lost all of the colour it had previously held and he turned to stare up at the headmaster who seemed to be giving a well practiced start of term speech.

"… and finally, I would like to remind some of our older students that the forest on the west of the grounds is _forbidden_ and anyone found entering there without permission will receive a suitable punishment." Was it just me or was he looking down at the Gryffindor table as he said that? " Now, I believe that is all… dig in!"

The second he said this, the empty plates in front of us filled with so many different courses that I couldn't help but stare in wonder as everyone else bar Annabeth reached across to get started. Looking up I saw panic cross her face as she looked around desperately for something and I picked up on the problem almost instantly, there was no where to make a sacrifice! Looking around uneasily, I wondered if it would be weird if we suddenly summed a pot of Greek fire, but before we had to panic for too long, Hecate decided to drift down to our table.

"_Don't worry little cousins, the counsel came up with a solution for that."_

At the sound of the ancient Greek, both of our heads snapped to her and we instantly switched to the language ourselves, ignoring the weird looks we were getting from the people around us in favour of talking to the goddess. In the end, it was Annabeth who answered.

"_What is the solution my Lady?"_

Our chaperone grimaced slightly at the use of the title, she had never been one for formalities, but she overlooked it for once which surprised me a bit.

"_You are to act like you would at a normal school, send up your thanks to the gods in your mind, but there is no need to sacrifice anything, that would just blow your cover."_

We both nodded at this, turning back to our food with murmured 'thank you's , but apparently she wasn't done there.

"_Oh, and to make sure that you don't get rusty before the final battle, you must attend training in the empty classroom at the very bottom of the dungeons for an hour after class everyday. Now, enjoy your meal."_

With this she drifted off to the Gryffindor table and we started loading up our plates with food trying to ignore the curious looks we were receiving, but apparently Draco had never been told that it was rude to pry into other people's business and he was soon prattling on again.

"What was _that_? I thought you spoke English in America not that strange language, and why did she hide what she was saying anyway? What was it?"

I rolled my eyes across the table at the daughter of wisdom and turned back to my pork chop, signalling for her to explain, anyway, a lie would be much more convincing coming from her than me, she actually had the motivation to think up a good excuse not punch the guy in the face.

"Oh, that was nothing, its just the language of the ancients that we are taught at school. Professor Hex was just telling us that we had an extra hour of lessons than you guys did and that, if we were late, she would feed us to the giant squid in the lake."

With that she turned back to her food and I tried to stop myself from laughing by taking a drink from the goblet in front of me.

"Ah well, sucks to be you I guess."

Thankfully, Draco left it at that and turned around to the other side so that he could hold a conversation with one of his friend leaving us free to eat in peace, something we set about quite happily, after all, the food here was really good.

After everyone had eaten all that they could manage, and the last parts of the magically appearing food has disappeared from the plates in front of us, the headmaster stood up and said a few words to us before sending us all off to bed, something that sounded like a really good idea around about now. Standing with the rest of the table, I drifted to the back with Annabeth as we followed them back into the entrance hall and past a rather ornate staircase.

"So, what do you think of this place?"

I asked her as we were lead through a low door and into a downwards sloping corridor made out of bleak grey stone. I had to say, this place was beginning to feel more and more like my room in dad's palace, which only served to make me sleepier.

"I think the castle is amazing, the architecture is simply amazing, I mean, did you even see the ceiling in the great hall? But otherwise, it isn't much different to back home, with the assorted tables and sleeping areas…"

She trailed off at this and, to my horror, it looked like this girl who was walking in front of us had been listening in and she turned to comment on Annabeth's statement. When I saw her face however, I couldn't help but think that there were some things better at home. Back at camp, all the girls you saw were either really pretty, or they were an Ares kid and didn't really count as a girl… anyway, this girl had a face like a pug and a naisly voice to match.

"Really, what is it like back in America? Oh, my name's Pansy by the way, Pansy Parkinson."

She held out her hand to us and we uncomfortably shook it in the end I remembered that she had asked a question and so I answered the best I could with my sleep fogged brain.

"Oh, its like this but its set up as more of an outside thing with the only buildings being the 12 dorms."

She looked a little shocked at this, as though she could quite picture it, but then she tilted her head to one side further emphasising her resemblance to a dog, only this time, it was a stupid and confused one.

"But what about when it rains, don't you still have to have your lessons or are they called off?"

Neither of us really thinking about what we were doing thanks to the drowsiness that jet lag, good food and a safe castle brought about, we both cracked up like we would at camp if one of the new campers asked us that question, but we soon stopped when we saw the strange look on her face. Coughing awkwardly to hide her embarrassment, Annabeth was the one who answered.

"Oh, sorry, that was just a reflex reaction. You see, we have some pretty powerful enchantments around our school so it only rains if we want it to. You see, we don't really have a problem with the weather thanks to that."

The Pansy girl seemed to accept that answer without too much more pushing and she soon went back to quizzing us about anything and everything to do with our school, thankfully, it seemed that Annabeth's over the top paranoia about being discovered was actually pretty helpful in this situation. We were just beginning to explain the different "divisions" in our special school when she stopped in front of a blank stretch of wall, grabbing our arms to make sure we didn't walk past it. Because of our long conversation, it seemed like we had lagged behind the others quite a way so I thought we were just stopping to wait for one of the ones behind us to catch up, but, to our surprise, she turned to face the wall as though it was completely normal.

"Parsletongue"

As she said this, the wall creaked open reviling quite a comfortable room that was already crowded by students in black and green robes. After stepping through the recently opened hole in the wall, she turned to grin at our shocked faces.

"What, you guys don't have anything like this back home?"

This snapped us out of our shock and we soon followed her inside, sinking down into some of the emerald armchairs that were over by the back wall. Surprisingly, they were actually pretty comfortable and I felt myself sinking deeper into the softness before I answered.

"Nope, the dorms are pretty obvious for everyone to see, it's a test of our skill you see. Every year we have to put defences around it to keep out intruders." She seemed about to laugh at that, but I sent her a dark grin that soon killed it in her throat. "You shouldn't laugh, we are pretty good at protecting our homes, like with Annabeth's dorm, you would have to have a death wish if you wanted to get into there without permission."

Annabeth just laughed t the reminder of the last Hermes kid who had tried it, but half way through the chuckle turned into a yawn and Pansy sent a small grin across at us.

"Come on, I bet you're tired, dorms are this way!"

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**A/N: and there you have it, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, though I think that was more of a filler than anything else… oh well, on the request of a certain reviewer, I will alternate between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson Trivia between chapters so, this question is:**

**Which famous brother of Percy's took on the minotaur in the labyrinth? **


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